Posted
by
kdawson
on Tuesday September 08, 2009 @07:13AM
from the shirt-size-and-toothbrush-color dept.

Sherri Davidoff writes "Here's a real copy of an American citizen's DHS Travel Record, retrieved from the US Customs and Border Patrol's Automated Targeting System and obtained through a FOIA/Privacy Act request. The document reveals that the DHS is storing: the traveler's credit card number and expiration; IP addresses used to make Web travel reservations; hotel information and itinerary; full airline itinerary including flight numbers and seat numbers; phone numbers including business, home, and cell; and every frequent flyer and hotel number associated with the traveler, even ones not used for the specific reservation."

This reminds me of the current idea to charge a 10$ entrance fee for foreign visitors. The money is supposed to go into a marketing fund. It's not only borderline schizophrenic to raise a new barrier in order to promote it, it might be even more sinister: that fee can apparently only be paid by credit card. Since 10$ doesn't seem to be enough money to be worth collecting, I'm wondering if getting all the credit card data isn't the real goal.

Or maybe the US wants to finally catch up with the third world in unfriendliness.

Look at the record detail. You can even see on what CRS it was reserved : 1A. If you reserve everything with the CRS (for example at a travel agency) then ultimately everything is linked and saved there. Then most airline do not bother filtering they just send the whole kludge to the DHS. I commented the same, and yes indeed he blacked the name out, but left the RECORD LOCATOR, which is identifying the person too, if you have access to the CRS system.

If you book with a one-use virtual credit card number, is that what appears on the record? Does it produce all previously used cc numbers too?
This looks like just the airline passing on their booking/customer db record, but if it was the actual CC that would be real tin foil hat time.

Id be a bit concerned about using a service like Tor when booking your flights. After all, is letting them know your IP when they know so much else really a big deal?
They already know a lot about who you are, yet it looks quite dodgy if you tried to mask yourself. Also, what if the pc you tor out to the internet from is flagged no-fly? Sure, you could probably eventually prove it was nothing to do with you, but it wouldnt be a fun day in the airport!

Well just so you know, I live in Belgium and if I want to get my paperwork to travel to the US I have to CALL the US embassy (I cannot just go there, no sir, we're all terrorist here in Europe, you see) and without so much as getting a human operator to respond, like to - I don't know, ask me what the hell I want - I just have to hand over my CC number so I can be charged xx dollars, just to get them to make an appointment.

I find that very disturbing, off putting and blatantly rude... It is not because the US can do that that it bloody should. I do not want to go to the US but sometimes the circumstances force me to, but when I do I am treated like a piece of s**t with no rights... It really makes me want to go through all the hassle of getting my visa, then canceling my card and getting a new one.

Looks like he went Tampa to London via Houston (used to be Intercontinental) and then mysteriously flew from Charles DeGaulle in Paris back to Tampa via Newark. (Hmmmmmm.. what of the missing segment? Hmm? Hmm?!!!)

Seat numbers are clearly visible at the end of each flight segment as well.

The history of every PNR (personal name record) has ALWAYS been tracked by CRS systems.

Looks like the flights he was scheduled for had some schedule changes and his seat had to be changed also.

Certainly does a lot of international travel huh?

Customs and Immigration has always been interested in suspicious behavior though.

1. Fly to South America and pay cash for your ticket? Expect to be stopped at re-entry
2. Didn't eat your meal on the way back from Central or South America? Expect to be stopped at re-entry
3. Fly international more than twice a month? Expect to be stopped at re-entry

It's good ole profiling at it's best and there's nothing you can do about it. It's a "national security" issue. I speak from experience. I have been stopped 30 consecutive times on international flights. Every flight I ever took until that passport was renewed.

Not exactly. Any business that processes credit cards has to be PCI compliant. That means truncating the credit card number or encrypting it. So any company that give the DHS access to unencrypted credit card numbers no longer PCI compliant and is liable for damages in the event of a breach (which this may be).

What happens if somebody else buys your airline ticket for you with their own credit card? Surely there's no right to hold the information of an individual not even entering the US? Oh this is a test case waiting to happen:D

Too bad most of the sheeple will just yawn and pick their noses when they're told about this. People with enough sense to be nervous about this level of government intrusion into the lives of law-abiding citizens will be laughed at.

And if I hear one more idiot say, "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what are you worried about", I'm going to invite the cowardly moron to move to Communist China, where he'll feel right at home.

Funny you say that. I live in England on a non-EU passport. When I want to go to Belgium I have to call a premium rate number (no not an 0800 or a local call, but a premium rate number). I pay while they take their time to answer. When they do I have to hand over my CC number so I can be charged xx euro, just to get them to make an appointment.

The TSA's reason for why you have to take off your shoes is so they can x-ray for all kinds of stuff. (I know for a fact the archway metal detectors don't reliably pick up metal near the floor, and I've noticed the personnel don't wand all the way down.)

Last time I was in India (Oct of 2001), they were using a standard metal detector with a two stair step in the center that raised you up enough to check your feet without requiring you to remove your shoes. Its probably too simple a solution for the U.S. though.

The keyword there being debts. Just like retail stores can legally decline to accept certain denominations of bills for a purchase, I'm sure DHS could also come up with a reason that avoids that pesky phrase.

Yeah, I liked travelling to the US better when all I had to do was check the correct boxes on the amusing green form

Well, lying on that form is a crime. So if you come into the country under false pretenses, they can legally arrest you, whereas I'm not sure what legal standing the US has to prosecute, say war crimes committed in Bosnia.